iTalk (OTCBB: TALK) pump and dump from the folks who brought you GNIN

The Brighton Markets group of websites sent out teaser emails about their new pump coming up after the close yesterday, giving away their promotion of TALK in the disclaimer. Thanks to Tim Lento for noticing that first.

Their most recent pump, and by far their longest-lasting and most successful, was GNIN. I previously wrote about that stock promotion (in that blog post I also link all their websites that I am familiar with). I also made a bunch of money trading it, as shown by the two trades below (I had a lot of other trades but essentially all of my gains are shown by the two trades below; contrary to what the trades indicate, I made most of my money shorting; I had shorted early and boxed my shares however, which is why most of my profit appears to come from a long).

 

$2,685profitGNINShort Stock
IB batch import through 3/10

Posted by MichaelGoode /
http://profit.ly/1MnOPP

 

$11,161profitGNINLong Stock
Speedtrader batch import through 3/10/2013

Posted by MichaelGoode /
http://profit.ly/1MnOOb

gnin

As you can see from the chart, the Green Innovations (GNIN) promotion lasted a long time and the promoters got a big second spike after the first dump. iTalk (TALK) has been a far different promotion with far higher volume initially, presumably from people buying in response to calls from the boiler rooms connected with Brighton Markets. The steep ascent and high volume is also likely due partly to the hot pump market and partly to the success of GNIN. I think it likely that TALK will never get close to GNIN’s highs because of the higher volume at the beginning of the pump. Also, short sellers who were squeezed on GNIN will be more cautious shorting TALK, reducing the chances of a short squeeze.

talk

 

The promotion of TALK by the websites associated with Brighton Markets has not even formally begun (although as I noted above, the pump started over a week ago, likely starting with calls from boiler rooms). But in the teaser emails sent out Friday night the disclaimer clearly states that they are promoting TALK. The disclaimer in the form of an image is even named “TALK_disclaimer”

talk_disclaimerIf you can’t read the fine print, see the full disclaimer at http://investors-alliance.com/edis/talk_disclaimer.php

Excerpt from disclaimer:

Please be advised that investors-alliance.com has been paid $40,000 USD per week by Crystal Financial LLC to send this alert on TALK to perform promotional and advertising services.

Promotion budget: $40,000 per week
Paying party: Crystal Financial LLC

Shares outstanding: 42,500,000
Market cap (as of 5/3/2013): $48.5 million

How will I trade this? I will consider buying it Monday but if I did that I would not hold past Tuesday. The GNIN pump’s high was the day it was finally promoted by all the older Brighton websites, so I will be looking to short once they start promoting TALK via emails.

[Edit 2013-5-28]: I came across an online pump page a week or two ago on TALK as well. It is at http://italkreport.com/

Disclaimer (emphasis mine):

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER: This advertising issue of Profit Seeker Online does not purport to provide an analysis of any company’s financial position, operations or prospects and this is not to be construed as a recommendation by Profit Seeker Online or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. iTalk, (TALK), the company featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising by Crystal Financial, LLC to provide public awareness for TALK for the period of May 24, 2013 through June 24, 2013. Profit Seeker Online and Nextor Media Corp. have used outside research and writers using public information to create the advertisement coming from Profit Seeker Online about TALK. Although the information contained in this advertisement is believed to be reliable, Profit Seeker Online and Nextor Media Corp. make no warranties as to the accuracy of any of the content herein and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize the content. Readers should perform their own due-diligence, including consulting with a licensed, qualified investment professional or analyst. Further, readers are strongly urged to independently verify all statements made in this advertisement and perform extensive due diligence on this or any other advertised company. Profit Seeker Online is not offering securities for sale. An offer to buy or sell can be made only with accompanying disclosure documents and only in the states and provinces for which they are approved. Many states have established rules requiring the approval of a security by a state security administrator. Check with http://www.nasaa.org or call your state security administrator to determine whether a particular security is licensed for sale in your state. Many companies have information filed with state securities regulators and many will supply investors with additional information on request. Nextor Media Corp. has managed a total production budget of up to $2,750,000 from Crystal Financial, LLC for advertising efforts starting May 24, 2013 until June 24, 2013 and will retain any amounts over and above the cost of production, copywriting services, mailing and other distribution expenses, as a fee for its services. Profit Seeker Online is paid $7,800 as an editorial fee from Nextor Media Corp. and also expects to receive new subscriber revenue as a result of this advertising effort. *More information can be received from TALK’s investor relations firm. Further, specific financial information, filings and disclosures as well as general investor information about publicly traded companies like TALK, advice to investors and other investor resources are available at the Securities and Exchange Commission website www.sec.gov and www.nasd.com. Any investment should be made only after consulting with a qualified investment advisor and after reviewing the publicly available financial statements of and other information about the company and verifying that the investment is appropriate and suitable. Investing in securities is highly speculative and carries a great deal of risk especially as to new companies with limited operations and no history of earnings. The information contained herein contains forward-looking information within the meaning of section 27a of the Securities Act of 1993, as amended, and section 21e of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding expected growth of the featured company. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, TALK notes that statements contained herein that look forward in time, which include everything other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company’s actual results of operations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the size and growth of the market, the Company’s ability to fund its capital requirements in the near term and in the long term; pricing pressures, technology issues etc.

PDF copy of pump page.

That hasn’t helped the stock price:
TALK

 

Disclaimer: [Edit 2013-5-28 — No position] I have no net position in TALK; I am short 10,000 shares in one account and long 10,000 shares in another account. I may change my position at any time. I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above except that I did receive an anonymous threat to kill my wife and daughter, purportedly sent by these promoters but almost certainly not from them. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

 

42 thoughts on “iTalk (OTCBB: TALK) pump and dump from the folks who brought you GNIN”

  1. In your opinion how high can TALK go before it crashes? Seems like a pretty short pump if it does crash this week as you are suggesting.

    Thanks

    1. I hate trying to guess how high a pump will go — it is so hard to have any clue. Rather, I look to trade the price action: if I do buy TALK then I would sell at the first sign of weakness. For shorting I look for topping action or a blowoff top (near-vertical move). Some of my GNIN short I entered as a long-term short and I was down a ton before I made money. Much of the rest I shorted as it broke down on its first big dump day; I shorted lower than ideal of course but I avoided being down on that part of my position. A good example of why it is important to not get hung up on price targets: LOTE I was short 12,000 shares or so at $1.50. Even though I thought it highly unlikely that it would go higher than $2.50 or so, I still boxed my position when it broke out over $1.83. If I had held my full short position I would’ve at one point been down $120,000!

  2. Hey Mike,

    Looks like TALK ran up by almost a 100% … all the other pump I have been exposed to SWVI, GNIN, GOFF, LOTE, etc especially those of the current promoters have gone up by atleast 200-300% before crash… what do you think of TALK with that respect ?? Is a 100% move totally legit based on your experience before the crash?

    I’m looking to scalp a 10-20% gain…

    1. Pumps, particularly mailer pumps (like LOTE and OCTX) have been doing very well recently. They normally do not do this well. Even some recent pumps have done poorly, like AGIN. You can absolutely not anticipate this or other pumps going up hundreds of percent. Look at BOPT, which only went up briefly before going straight down, despite having an effective promoter.

      1. AGIN went up around 150% from its lows and BOPT didn’t do well I think because it has a low volume pump and dump before its high volume pump so people were aware of its scam business and also they probably chose to get out before it reached previous pump’s highs to minimize risk.. all these other pumps that are successful don’t seem to have historical patterns or trends..

  3. ARG! And to think I was in at 1.06, sold at 1.10 thinking this thing was going nowhere fast.

    Might be getting back in on monday if it pulls back to 1.08 or so. I think this has room to fly with some good PR’s – company has a pretty good product if they”re legit.

    Thanks for the coverage Michael always gonna be checking your blog!

    1. I am sure they will have more PRs — that is the way of big pumps and many small pumps — they always seem to have news during the promotion. Whether the product is legit or not is irrelevant — all that matters is the pump and how quickly insiders dump their shares.

  4. Great report googled “brighton and TALK” low and behold you did the research for me. Sorry about the threats purported promoters really have no low.

  5. i don’t see the word TALK listed in the disclaimer that you linked here??? Are you sure it is TALK? Please provide a better link or proof. Thanks

  6. Hy Mike,

    Looks like a gap play just began.. would you hold TALK for more than 2-3 days seeing how its progressing…? Or is the daily level 2 pattern weak?

    1. As long as price action is good I will look to hold until it gets promoted by Brighton websites via email. If there is any indication they will not promote it via email or will delay, I will sell.

      1. Hi Mike,

        What do you mean by good price action… most of these drop a little and gain momentum intra day… do you look at daily chart or minute chart price action strength…are trends and support/resistance lines valid for such stocks?

        Also how can you know if they have “delayed” any online promotions campaign?

        Cheers!

      2. Dubai Guy — They sent teaser emails from a few of their websites Friday. If they send emails saying the pump has been delayed or I don’t get anything from them in a few days I will get out. Support and resistance are often meaningful even on pumps.

  7. Hey Mike,

    Useful stuff! Any idea where I can get a link to these websites… ?

    1. Also Mike…why would a delay be an indication of a red flag??

    2. I list their websites in the blog post I linked to about GNIN. A delay is bad for longs becaues that means fewer buyers — the promotion brings buyers.

  8. Is this newsletter considered a pump and dump? I get an email from Energy and Capital every few hours. They are not diluging the stock name but with some Internet research you can determine it is GPHOF (Graphite One Resources) that they are promoting. i’ll send you the email under separate email so you can share with others.

  9. Hey Mike,

    The daily volume is reducing … is that a concern for you? BTW I was out yesterday #ProTrading ….. 🙁

    Cheers!

    1. No it doesn’t. Volume has faded from Monday when a new round of speculators (including me) got in. But it is on par with the two prior trading days and yesterday.

  10. Here is their website: http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/graphene-investments/2913

    Do some research, they are talking about GPHOF in my opinion. Currently at .25. Enjoy the ride!
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      1. No. I am still net long 5,000 shares. I will sell at least half of those at the open Monday with them pumping it from a bunch more sites over the weekend. The other half I will likely sell into any spike Monday but could hold longer — but at this point the stock gets riskier as it is late in the promotion. It could squeeze a bunch more like GNIN did, but it could drop like a rock without any last spike.

    1. Hi Mike,

      I use SureTrader. I like how you reserved your shares by going long and short… is there a way to do that with only a single trading account?
      Cheers!

  11. Hi Michael,

    Are you looking to go long on XUII ? It seems to have received a wave of new promotions… but it has also been sued by a private investor as a pump and dump scheme…. do you think this news will affect XUII’s ability to be pumped successfully or do promotional sites operate irrespective of them

    Thanks
    Matt

    1. I usually don’t like buying Awesomepennystocks pumps after day 1. If I do buy it will only be a day-trade with a tight mental stop-loss. George Sharp’s lawsuit PR is what caused the big drop yesterday. I did make a small amount buying it for the bounce.

      1. XUII has also been promoted by pennystocks.com … their past two promotions SWVI and GOFF were pretty successful pumps… I think these 2 stocks were also promoted by Awesomepennystocks …

      2. Pennystocks.com is another website of the same pumpers who own Awesomepennystocks.com. Their websites are as follows:
        InsidersLab.com
        AwesomePennyStocks.com
        PremiumStockReport.com
        PennyStocks.com
        PennyStocks.de
        EarningForecast.com
        Pennystocksinsiders.com/

      3. Wow…Did you get all this info. from experience or is there a location which shows who own particular pump websites… thx for the info!

      4. Well a lot comes from following all the pump websites I can, and I search for new pump websites by seeing who is advertising on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and banner ads on iHub and on this blog. And I am in contact with lots of other penny stock traders who do the same.

  12. Hmm. XUII seems to be bouncing strong… if it consolidates on a daily pattern… I might considering buying it for a intra day trade …

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